East Lyme — In a ceremony of cheer and gratitude, East Lyme High School graduates listened to advice to embrace their diverse interests and continue exploring.

“Class of 2013: You are all Renaissance men and women,” said valedictorian Charley Ren. “It’s hardly a bad thing, in fact it means that you are all explorers, that you approach new things with curiosity and hardly ever walk away from something without having learned something new.”

Principal Michael Susi lauded the graduates, who accepted their diplomas in maroon caps and gowns among family and friends on the high school athletic field Thursday.

“The Class of 2013 is a class of respectful, caring, hard-working and compassionate students,” he said.

In the senior laureate address, graduate Laura Kastner highlighted the graduates’ sense of community, evidenced through kind deeds, such as leaving notes signed “someone who cares” in other students’ backpacks.

“We are compassionate, and we are exceptional, and we owe it to the place that raised us to remain that way,” she said.

Salutatorian Jacob Wang advised graduates to embrace failure as a part of life so they can “start living with clarity and consciousness.”

Superintendent James Lombardo urged students to listen to their hearts: “And when you hear that call, the call to do something important, pay attention. Don’t ignore it. That sound may very well be your clarion call.”

Class President Piper Hays reflected on the bittersweetness of knowing that although she felt proud during the school’s sports games and drama productions, she knew her classmates would one day have to bid farewell to each other.

But she recalled wisdom from her childhood favorite, Winnie the Pooh: “How lucky we are to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

“Remember this,” she told her fellow graduates, “and cherish those loved ones around you, as they’re the ones who have shaped you into the young adults that you are today.”